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Before it was the Thompson Alumni Center, one of the few places on campus that can be considered iconic to UNO's image in Omaha, the plot of land on the west end of campus was owned by two Omaha families: The Storzes and the Shirleys. continue . . .

The annual Senior Vice Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Leadership recognizes an undergraduate student who has demonstrated exemplary leadership through influential participation in campus organizations and community volunteer work in addition to scholarly achievement.

Nominations/Applications will be accepted through today, Jan. 30. Application packet information can be downloaded at http://studentorgs.unomaha.edu/leadership. Paper packets are available in the Student Organizations and Leadership Programs (SOLP) Office, located on the first floor of the Milo Bail Student Center, across from the Fireplace Lounge. Materials can also be sent to you via campus mail.

A nominator may be from faculty or staff, but must be from the UNO campus. The application must be presented to the nominee by the nominator. All nominees must be undergraduates enrolled at UNO with a 2.5 cumulative GPA, will be graduating in December 2012 or May 2013, and possess leadership experience. For questions regarding this award or nomination packet, contact Bill Pickett at wpickett@unomaha.edu or 402.554.4001.

This award will be presented at the SOLP Student Leader Reception, and at the Honors Convocation.

Join the College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) today, Jan. 30, as Samantha Clinkinbeard and Michael Johnson from the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, along with Mindy Anderson-Knott of the Survey, Statistics and Psychometrics Core Facility at UNL and Nate Bock, UNO Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol counselor, present "Binge Drinking Among Young Adults in Nebraska and On-Campus: Behaviors, Perceptions, and Prevention."

The presentation will begin at noon and end at 1 p.m. in the 132 CPACS Commons. Lunch will be served. This event is part of the "Spotlight on CPACS" series running to celebrate the college's 40th anniversary.

The first half of the concert will feature standard French music by Georges Hüe, Darius Milhaud, and Philippe Gaubert, and will include collaborations with UNO faculty violinist, William Wolcott and Omaha Symphony pianist, Christi Zuniga. The second half, also featuring Zuniga, will showcase music by American composer Christopher Caliendo, and two world premiere performances of works written specifically for Beard by British composer Matt Smith, and Austin-based composer P. Kellach Waddle, the latter of whom will be present to introduce his work prior to its performance.

Beard joined the faculty at UNO in 2002 where she teaches flute, chamber music, and serves as coordinator of woodwind studies. An active recitalist and clinician, she has performed in over two dozen countries at major festivals throughout North America, Europe, Central America and South America, and is a regular recitalist at the annual conventions of the National Flute Association.

Admission to the recital is free with a UNO MavCard, or $5 for adults and $4 for seniors/students. For more information, contact the UNO Music Department at 402.554.2251.

Service Learning Academy's P-16 Initiative to Serve at OPS Family Night Jan. 31

As part of a project with the Service Learning Academy's P-16 Initiative, Dr. McWilliams' Current Trends in Early Childhood Education class will be serving OPS' Native Indian Centered Education (N.I.C.E) January Family Night featuring John Zeretzke, flute maker and founder of Flutes Across the World.

The event will begin at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 31 at OPS' Teacher Administration Center (TAC) Cafeteria. If there are questions about the event, please contat Julie Dierberger at jdierberger@unomaha.edu

Faculty are invited to join Dan Gilbert from the Office of Student and Academic Affairs to brainstorm on ways that we can experiment with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) to find scenarios that are "wins" for students, faculty, and the institution. The meeting will be in EAB 202 at 3 p.m. on Friday Feb 1.

The UNO Master of Arts in Language Teaching program will sponsor the 7th Annual Colloquium on Language Teaching on Saturday, Feb. 23. The event is free and open to the public, and will take place from 1-5 p.m. in 306 and 380 Arts and Science Hall (ASH).

Do you know staff members at UNO who deserve recognition for great service? Then please tell us about them so others will know. UNO recognizes deserving staff members with the Employee of the Month "Oh" Award (Oh, what a difference you make!).

To be eligible for the award an employee must:
• Be an Office/Service or Managerial employee
• Employed at UNO for one year or longer
• Be in good standing

Here is the link to the nomination form found on the Human Resources web page

Recipients will receive a $200 award, a plaque, lapel pin, coffee cup/drink cup, a reserved parking space for the month, a professional photograph with the Chancellor, a personal meeting with the Chancellor, and an opportunity to attend and be recognized at a Board of Regent's meeting.

"Not Quite Adults" by Settersten & Ray has been selected for the spring faculty book discussion on Wednesday, March 27, at 4 p.m. in the Faculty Study Commons, 305 Criss Library.

Jonathan Santo will lead the discussion of the authors' research-based look at current twentysomethings' slower path to adulthood. Plan now to be part of this interesting discussion. A limited number of books have been ordered, so request your copy today by contacting the Center for Faculty Development at 402.554.2427 and register to attend the book discussion at unofacdev@unomaha.edu.

On Tuesday, Jan. 29, Paul Kosel, head of Campus Security, was quoted in a story about UNL's changes to their alert system. Going forward, UNL will use texts, instead of automated calls, to alert their campus. UNO currently has a system that alerts faculty, staff and students via text messages, email, and overhead paging.

Wanda Ewing, associate professor of art & art history, was featured in a story on Black History month, which begins Feb. 1. Ewing's artwork will be on display at the W. Dale Clark Library as part of a exhibition that runs through the end of February.

Tess Larson, a recent Masters in Public Administration graduate and 2009 graduate of Social Work, will be named Mentor of the Year on Thursday by the Midlands Mentoring Partnership. One of Larson's mentees is Gabbi Jones, who is currently enrolled at UNO and studying pre-nursing.

WOWT, KPTM Preview Battles on Ice

On Monday, Jan. 28, KPTM and WOWT previewed the Feb. 9 matchup between UNO and North Dakota as part of a full-day outdoor hockey event called 'Battles on Ice'. Tickets are still available through Ticketmaster.

The P-16 Initiative in the Service Learning Academy has
designed an interactive training that provides an opportunity for faculty to
learn about how to utilize service learning as a pedagogy; to connect faculty
to K-12 instructors and community nonprofit partners and to explore mission-focused
teaching techniques in a living laboratory while meeting community-identified
needs.

Participation in the training will yield a course plan
developed between the UNO and PK-12 instructor to be implemented within the
next 18 months. Participants receive a $400 professional development stipend as
well as project implementation support in the form of: graduate assistant time,
project materials, transportation and food. Applications accepted at http://www.unomaha.edu/servicelearning.

The UNO Council for Humanist Thought (CHaT) meets every Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center Tower Room. The UNO Council for Humanist Thought is a place where topics and issues facing atheists, agnostics, and the theistically challenged can be discussed in an open forum. It is a safe zone for conversations on the separation of church and state, among other things. The meeting is open to all and all are welcome!

Retirement Planning Seminar - IRA Education Workshop - planned for February. This seminar helps participants understand what an IRA is, choose the right IRA, decide between different IRA investment options and learn about Roth IRA conversions. The workshop will be held twice – Tuesday, Feb. 5, from 3 to 4 p.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center (MBSC) Council Room and Wednesday, Feb. 6, from 10 to 11 a.m. in the MBSC Jenkins Room. The workshop is presented by UNO Human Resources and TIAA-CREF.

Contact Tim Rochford at 402.554.2465 or Esther Scarpello at 402.554.3660 for more information.